


That Wicked, Wonderful Smile

by aziekdelkins



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alice In Wonderland AU, Alternate Universe, I'll add more as I go, Probably some angst, doesn't strictly follow the plot of Alice in Wonderland, oops lotor is a bad guy sorry, probably some fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-06-23
Packaged: 2019-11-25 23:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18172838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aziekdelkins/pseuds/aziekdelkins
Summary: Keith did not want to get stuck in Wonderland of all places looking for his brother Shiro. However, along the way he meets several other people that he would not have thought he could call friends. The most intriguing of all though is Lance, whose smile lingers in Keith's mind long after the rest of his body has disappeared. He can be infuriating, yes, but what happens when that anger starts to fade into something else?Come journey through Wonderland and join Keith, Lance and their friends as they try to rescue Shiro from the evil Galra's clutches before time runs out.





	1. In Which Keith Finds Himself In An Odd Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith winds up falling down a dark, dark pit. Where will it lead him? He doesn't know yet, and he doesn't know if he wants to.

This was not how Keith had imagined his summer going. He had made plans to hang out with his brother, Shiro, but those had gone down the drain when Shiro had suddenly disappeared at the end of May. It was now the middle of July, and still no one had seen or heard from him. Keith was not ready to stop looking for him, but his parents insisted that he take a break. Keith knew in the back of his head that his parents thought Shiro was gone for good, but couldn’t bring it upon himself to do the same. 

People don’t just disappear like that! No trace of anything, anywhere, no note? It all seemed very fishy to Keith, who had immediately started a corkboard full of leads and clues that might lead him to wherever Shiro had gone. Unfortunately, all of the work he was doing had taken a toll on his body and his mind, so that’s why he found himself walking along the edge of a river that ran near his house. 

Keith stopped under a large oak tree and slid down the trunk with a sigh, looking forlornly at the sky. “Where are you, Shiro? Please, just come home,” Keith said with a voice that trailed off toward the end, eyelids slipping shut and body going limp. He was tired and could just… shut his eyes for one quick second, then he would get back to sleuthing… 

The next time Keith opened his eyes, the light had shifted dramatically and he supposed that it was now late afternoon. He leapt to his feet with a curse and started to head back the way he came, but stopped when he saw a figure move in front of him. He peered at the person and saw that it was a man wearing a yellow suit with a forest green shirt on under it. This person was staring intently at a battered pocket watch and was muttering to himself. Keith strained his ears to hear what he was saying, but could only make out a few words here and there.

“Gonna be so late… He’s gonna kill me!… Not supposed to be here… The soup!” At these last words, the man looked up with a slightly terrified expression on his face and finally seemed to register that Keith was standing there.

“Uh, can I help you?” Keith asked tentatively, unsure whether or not to approach the seemingly crazy guy who was talking to his pocket watch. The man glanced around nervously and replied, “No, no, I’m peachy! I-I need to go!” He turned around so quickly that he looked like a yellow blur to Keith, and started to run off in the opposite direction. 

“Hey wait! Where are you going?” exclaimed Keith, starting to run after him, picking up the pace after the man looked behind him and saw Keith chasing him. The man’s eyes widened a considerable amount and he yelled behind him, “Nowhere, now PLEASE DON’T FOLLOW ME.”

Of course Keith wasn’t one to give up a good challenge so he simply grinned and continued to run at the man, right up until the point where a giant hole opened up in the ground and the suit guy jumped into it without looking back. Keith cautiously walked up to the edge of the gaping hole and peered in, but saw only darkness. “Spooky,” he said, starting to walk away when he felt a tug at his ankles, “What? No no no no no.” Keith was yanked off of his feet and dragged towards the edge of the hole, all while screeching and clawing at the ground to try and get a hold of something. He didn’t succeed, and ended up falling into the pit. 

As Keith fell, he reflected on what had gotten him to this point. Maybe he should not have chased after the man in the yellow suit, maybe he shouldn’t have fallen asleep under that tree, but what’s done is done. He crossed his arms as the fall continued, seemingly for forever. As he peered into the darkness, he thought he could see a faint light at the bottom of the pit. The light grew nearer, and Keith realized that he could now see things floating past him in the darkness: a broken clock, an antique china set, a raggedy doll, and other things that slipped past his field of vision as he sped up.

He scrunched his eyes shut, waiting for the moment when he would go ker-splat on a hard floor, but instead he was met with a soft texture that enveloped him on all sides. Keith opened his eyes and flailed about, managing to entangle himself even more in the thing he was caught in. He squirmed around, after a while pushing away from the soft fabric and landing not so gracefully on a dirt floor.

After letting his eyes adjust, Keith looks around at the place he landed in. There is a tunnel that leads to a little door off to his left, and a room with a table and checkered floors off to his right. Even more interesting though is the fact that the man from before was pacing around the table, but was tiny. Tinier than Keith had ever seen a person be before, around a foot tall. The man checked his watch again and sprung up, rushing past where Keith was sitting over to the small door in the dirt tunnel.

“Drink the thing on the table if you want to come through, if not then just ring the bell and you’ll be sent back,” the yellow suited guy said over his shoulder. Keith glanced around to make sure the guy was talking to him and turned back with questions on his tongue, “Who are y-,” the words died in his mouth as Keith saw the door shut. He was now all alone with way more questions than answers. The only thing left to do now was investigate what yellow suit man had told him.

Keith walked over to the checkered room. Over on the wall was a gold tasseled rope that said Pull Me, and on the table was a bottle with the words, Drink Me, bolded on them. Keith sat down at the table and put his head in his hands. What was he going to do?


	2. In Which Keith Meets Someone Invisible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith "meets" another interesting figure who seems to be invisible and likes to laugh at Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I honestly don't know what I'm doing with this fic, but I know that I plan to try and make it as enjoyable as possible to read. Anyways, enjoy some confused Keith!

Considering the options and the outcomes of each in his head, Keith found himself going in circles. On one hand, if he drank the bottle full of mysterious liquid, then who knows what would happen to him, something awful could happen to his body or his mind. On the other hand, if he pulled the tassel and it did what the suit guy had said (Keith was starting to wish he had gotten a name), then he would never know what was beyond that door. 

Sitting in quiet agony for another couple minutes, Keith finally decided that he was going to drink the stuff from the bottle. He really had nothing to lose, and what if, just maybe, that this was a clue that would lead him closer to finding Shiro. That was probably a stretch, but Keith thought that it would be better to have tried and seen what was on the other side of the door than not having gone through at all.

Sucking in a breath, he grabbed the bottle and uncorked it. Eyeing the contents warily, he tilted his head back and took a cautious drink, not drinking all of it, because only idiots ingest all of some mysterious substance in one go. Putting the bottle back on the table, Keith stared down at his hands, expecting to feel different. Instead, he burped. It tingled against the back of his throat, and soon the tingling spread to the rest of his body.

Looking around, Keith could tell that something was happening. The room seemed to be getting bigger, but Keith was getting very dizzy so it was hard to tell. He squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the spinning to stop. After he was sure that he wasn’t about to fall over if he opened his eyes, he carefully opened one and immediately opened the other.

He was still sitting on the chair, but he was considerably smaller than he had been before. Eyes wide, Keith gazed around the once normal sized room, now looking like something from a giant’s lair. He realized that this must have been the same thing that happened to the other man, and that he could probably fit through the door on the other side of the room now.

Although this was a nice revelation, there was one problem. Keith still had to get down from the chair, and the ground looked a hell of a lot farther away than it had when his feet were planted solidly on the ground. He figured that he could jump down, but he wasn’t about to risk his body’s safety quite yet, instead opting to cling onto one of the chair legs and sliding down like it was a fireman’s pole.

After reaching the ground, Keith walked over to the door, through the dirt tunnel. He took a moment to compose himself and to try and ready himself for whatever was coming next. He grabbed onto the door handle and turned it, opening the door a crack. As soon as he saw what was on the other side, he shut the door with enough force to rattle the frame.

Keith cautiously tried opening the door again, and this time opened it fully. He swallowed and stepped out into the bizarre world before him. Everything seemed to be colored in bright neon and in shocking colors. Keith stepped out further, letting the door shut behind him. He heard it click shut and turned around, shocked to see the door get sucked into the hill as if it had never been there in the first place.

He gaped at the hill, still trying to wrap his head around what he had just seen when he heard someone laugh. Keith whipped around, but no one was there. “Who are you? What do you want? Where am I?” Keith asked in an angry voice, trying to pinpoint the location of the laugh. There was no response, but Keith was still on guard as he looked around, finally spotting another table, this one seemingly made out of grass. It was at this point that Keith realized that he was still small while this part of the world was apparently regular sized again.

He heaved a sigh while thinking to himself that nothing is ever easy is it. Walking over to the table, his eyes kept darting around as he saw that there was a slice of cake that had the words Eat Me written on the plate in chocolate icing. Keith frowned and poked at the cake, trying to see if there was a trick hidden inside the cake or on the table.

A voice to his left said, “I would suggest eating that, you might find that it’s more helpful than you would think.”

Keith looked sharply to his left, but yet again, no one was there. “I’m going to ask again, who are you? I really don’t need anyone playing tricks on me today,” he stated, still searching for the source of the voice, “I would rather I find out what this place is and how I can get home without mind games.”

The voice came again, low and rich, “Tsk tsk now, all in good time. You could have gone home with a pull of that tassel back there, so why didn’t you?”

Frowning, Keith huffed and crossed his arms. “I… am looking for someone, and I needed to know if he was here, but now that I’m here I’m not sure I would even know where to look.” Right in front of Keith there seemed to be a sort of half moon shape that looked like… a smile? It disappeared as soon as Keith tried to get a better look at it, and the disembodied voice spoke from where the smile had been before.

“Oh well that’s a shame now, losing someone is very difficult indeed, but if you’re looking for directions as to where your person may be, I would direct you to the Mad Hatter and her friends. They would have the information you need. Before that, eat your cake. And don’t forget about me!” The voice trailed off as the smile appeared and flipped upside down before disappearing with a final peal of laughter.

Keith tried to catalog the information that he had just been given, and decides the first thing to do is eat the cake. He thought that it would reverse the effects of the liquid he drank before, so he took a bite of the cake while trying not to think about the effects if this wasn’t a “get bigger piece of cake.” Before he knew it, he was regular sized Keith again, and sitting on the very squashed remains of the grass table and the rest of the cake.

Before he could try to think about forming a plan, a figure came running towards him and stopped in front of him, panting heavily. “Come with me, your presence is required for the race to begin,” the guy breathed out before grabbing Keith’s arm and dragging him away towards some sort of race.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo who is the mysterious invisible person I wonder? And who came to grab Keith?


	3. In Which A Race Occurs, And Keith Falls On His Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith is dragged into being a part of a race that he doesn't want to be in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here seems a good place to note that I imagine the trees as being varying shades of pink and orange, so work that into however you imagine the scenery in your head. Enjoy reading!

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down! What’s this race? And why am I participating in it?” Keith exclaimed, tugging on the arm that was currently yanking him along. The guy looked back at Keith and slowed to a fast walk. 

“First, you should know that I’m just the messenger, not the officiator of the race, so I don’t really have a lot of information to give you,” the guy said, still walking fast enough that Keith had to slightly jog to keep up, “Second, you’re participating because there is one more spot open in the race, and you are going to fill it.”

Keith didn’t think that was very sound reasoning, but he figured that there was no getting out of it now, so he instead tried to get more information out of the man. “Okayy, well, could you at least tell me where I am and who you are?”

“My name is Ryan Kinkade, but you can just call me Ryan, and if you don’t know where we are, then you’re an idiot.” Ryan sighed and squinted at Keith, seeming to decide that he did not have any idea where he was, and rolled his eyes. “We are in W o n d e r l a n d, duh. Everyone knows that.”

Keith really didn’t know that, but he was too busy trying to wrap his mind around the fact that he was stuck in a bright neon place called Wonderland. “Uh huh, okay. Well, if you don’t mind, I think I’m gonna go now…” Keith tried to wrench his arm out of Ryan’s grasp, but was unsuccessful as the grip tightened and their pace sped up. “Nope, we are almost there, so no running until the race starts.”

Keith sighed and resigned himself to being dragged along like a limp puppet until he saw where they were going. The first thing he noticed was the crowd. They were all lined up along both sides of what looked like a dirt track that led off somewhere into the forest. The next thing he saw was the contestants. There were around six or seven of them, and as Keith watched, Ryan ran over to join them. He smiled and clasped hands with three of them, and motioned towards Keith as he conversed with them.

Keith stood there awkwardly as one of the guys came up to him. He was taller than Keith, and had brown hair that was kind of scraggly. Keith immediately was put off by this guy. He did not like the way the guy smiled at him and clasped his shoulder as though they were friends meeting after a long time of being apart. When the guy spoke, he spoke sort of condescendingly, so Keith disliked him even more. “Hey, welcome to the race! I’m sure that you are a little confused, so I’m here to clear things up. My name is James, and these are my companions Ryan, who you already met, Ina, and Nadia.”

The other girls waved at Keith, who was still not loving what was happening around him. James began to talk again, cutting Keith’s thought process off. “Ok, rules are, you have to reach the finish line first to be considered for the grand prize. Only the first person to cross the finish line gets the prize, while everyone else either keeps trying or goes home. Got it?”

“Sure… just like any other race, but can I ask what the grand prize is?” Keith asked, a little skeptical, hoping that it wasn’t something strange like getting turned into a frog or having to eat some weird cake that would make him super tall.

“The grand prize is getting to have an audience with the King of Hearts,” James said with a coy smile, “It’s the most coveted thing in the whole world.”

Keith did not want to meet this “King of Hearts” person, he just wanted to go home and/or find his brother, whichever came first, but agreed to the rules anyways. He and the other contestants lined up behind the starting line and got into position. Keith dug his foot into the ground behind him and pushed off as the buzzer sounded. He started to run, but not at his maximum speed. Keith scanned the track around him, looking for an exit where he could slip away without anyone noticing. The issue was that there were people lining both sides of the track. 

Keith kept his eyes peeled for any sort of break in the crowd, and only as they were nearing the end of the track did he spot a gap in between two people. He drifted off to the side of the track as close to the people as he could, and as the gap came up he dashed through it without incident. He looked back briefly to see James crossing the finish line first to a loud chorus of cheers from the crowd.

Turning his head back to the forest ahead of him, Keith shook his head when he stumbled over something on the ground. He went flying forward and tried to break his fall with his arms. He only half succeeded, managing to land on his hands before his arms gave out under him. Keith groaned and rolled onto his back with a grimace. A hand reached down into his field of vision and Keith grabbed it, grateful for the assist up. 

“Are you alright there my boy?” The man in front of him stood there with a kind smile on his face. Keith’s eyes traveled up to the top of his head, where a bright orange mop of hair was nested. Perched atop his mouth was a mustache of the same color, and it twitched when the man smiled. 

“Yeah I’m fine, I just tripped over something I think.” Keith looked around and found himself standing in a glade dappled with light, but also full of knick knacks and trinkets of all shapes and sizes. He turned around to try and get a better look at everything, but there was too much stuff to get a good look at any one thing in particular.

“Ah yes, tripping is common out here in the Skihlner Woods, you never know what sort of Wegilers are out there, waiting to trip some poor bystander!” The man punctuated this new exclamation with a twirl of his mustache. “The name’s Coran, and I’m the sole ruler of all this wonderful loot you see around you!”

Coran seemed harmless to Keith, so he smiled back at the eccentric man and looked around at his trove of items. Most of them seemed like they were collected from personal adventures, and others seemed to be more general items. There was one that caught his eye, so Keith walked over to it. It was a picture frame that had a tiny moving photo inside of it. There were five people in it, and Keith recognized two of them. Coran was obvious with the orange hair, and the yellow suit man could also be seen, although he was not wearing the suit, opting for a looser yellow top and pants. The other three figures were ones Keith had not seen before. There was a lady standing next to Coran who was wearing a pink top hat with long white hair spilling out from under the brim. Between this lady and the yellow suit man was a very short person with round circle glasses and short hair. Keith couldn’t tell if they were a girl or boy, so he moved on to study the last person in the photo.

It was another guy, but the odd thing about him was that he wasn’t standing, he was floating above the ground, wearing a smile that stretched across his whole face. He had short brown hair and tan skin, and was wearing a dark blue jacket over a black undershirt. Out of all of the people in the photo, he caught the attention of Keith the most. Keith had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he had seen him before, but couldn’t pinpoint where. He turned back to Coran, who had been watching Keith study the photo and asked, “Who are these people?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise that Keith will meet Lance, seeing as this is a Klance fic, but give it like... two more chapters. I'm trying to set some stuff up and make this story as thorough as possible.
> 
> Up next: possible backstory, so get ready!


	4. In Which Keith Learns About Wonderland

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith gets a little lesson about the history of Wonderland.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have some Coran Coran the gorgeous man for your souls.

Keith continued to look at Coran, waiting for an explanation. Coran looked thoughtful for a minute, then straightened up and motioned for Keith to come sit. Keith walked over and sat down on what looked and felt like a beanbag, but was very fuzzy and a light orange. He settled in as Coran did the same on another bean bag across from him. Coran looked as though he was getting ready to tell a long tale, so Keith prepared himself to be there for a while.

“Well, before I tell you who these people are, I must tell you about the history of Wonderland first. I can tell you are not from around these parts, so it would be wise to tell you everything.” 

Keith nodded, giving Coran the go ahead to start the story. “The current state of our land is not what it once was. It used to be a beautiful home for anyone, and was a place of growth and prosperity. That is not the case now. Our once beautiful home has fallen into a state of disrepair and madness.” Coran gave a sad smile, and Keith took the opportunity to ask a question. “What changed, then, to turn the land into this state?”

Coran grimaced. “It was the switching of rulers, I’m afraid. This deals with the woman wearing the top hat in that picture. Her name is Allura, and she is the rightful queen of Wonderland. Up until a few years ago, she ruled the land with a firm, yet gentle hand and everything was right with the world. Then along came Lotor, who wooed Allura into falling in love with him. Lotor believed that he was the rightful king and turned on Allura, banishing her from the palace and the land.”

“That’s when the madness started. Lotor amassed an army he calls the Galra and started to use force to keep the people in line. He takes people who won’t cooperate and places them in his prison until he decides what to do with them.”

Keith interjected, “Hey! Do you think that my brother might be held in the prison? He went missing about a month and a half ago and I have a hunch that he might be located somewhere in Wonderland.”

“Hmm… it’s possible. There was a batch of new prisoners brought in about a month ago, so your brother might be there,” Coran answered while twirling his mustache around his finger. 

“Sorry for interrupting, please continue with your story.” Keith leaned back while silently exclaiming that Shiro might be here! Smiling, Coran started to talk again.

“Right, well, as for the rest of the people in that photo, the small girl with glasses is Katie, although she likes to be called Pidge. She was Allura’s right hand woman back when she was ruler, so when Allura got exiled Pidge did too. Pidge is very adept with technology and probably the smartest person I know! That man in the yellow suit is Hunk, and he is currently working as head chef at the palace.”

Frowning, Keith wondered why Hunk would work for Lotor when he was seen in a photo with Allura looking happy. Fortunately, he didn’t have to ponder for very long, as Coran answered his question with the next thing he said.

“He doesn’t enjoy working for Lotor, but it is better than getting exiled, plus he acts as an informant for Allura so she knows what is happening within the palace while she is away. Hunk is very good friends with Pidge, so he also knows a lot about technology.”

Keith pointed to the last unidentified person in the photo and asked, “And him? Who is he?”

“You mean Lance. Lance is… how do I put it, a free spirit. He likes to help people, but also enjoys pulling pranks due to the fact that he has powers that most people don’t.”

“Are you referring to him floating?”

“That and several other things, but I am sure you will meet him, so I won’t give away his secrets just yet.” He cocked his head to the side and looked at Keith, who had one more question for the older man. “So where do you fit into all of this?”

“Me? I am Allura’s advisor, or at least I was until she was exiled. I was not, but I found it best for me to not stay at the palace after she had gone, so I moved out here. I still visit her, and I would like to think that she is like the daughter I never had, and I hope that she views me as a fatherly figure,” Coran blinked, seeming to realize that Keith probably didn’t need to know that and said, “Now you can tell me about yourself my boy, starting with your name.”

Keith started, becoming aware that he had not shared his name yet. “My name is Keith. This might sound crazy, but I fell down a pit and somehow ended up here in Wonderland. I am just looking for my brother, who I mentioned disappeared a little while ago. I’m sure he isn’t dead, but I had no idea where to look until I got here, and now I think I have a lead as to where he might be. That’s it.”

“Well, if your brother is one to not conform to things he doesn’t agree with, then there is a very likely possibility that he is being held in Lotor’s prison,” Coran mused. He jumped up, startling Keith with the sudden movement. “Alright! I know where to send you next, come this way.” He led Keith over to a mossy shelf, and rifled through the items on it. “Ah hah! Just the thing for you my dear boy, may it aid you in your travels.”

He presented Keith with an object that was wrapped in cloth. Keith gingerly took it and unwrapped it. Laying on the cloth was a knife that was elegant in looks and had a symbol upon the hilt. Upon closer inspection, when turned in the right light, it shimmered in varying shades of purples, and the strange symbol was also iridescent. Keith tilted the knife back and forth in wonder and turned to Coran, furrowing his brows. “Thank you for this generous gift, but why would I need a knife?”

“You never know what you’re going to meet out there in the world,” Coran said, waving his arms around wildly, “You could have a run in with a yelmor, or a weblum!” He started to sink down to the ground, and Keith laughed.

“Ok, ok I understand. It’s better to be over prepared than not at all.”

“Exactly! Now follow this path until you come to a house. Inside of it you will meet who you need to carry on your journey.” Coran pointed to a path on the other side of the glade and wished him luck.

Keith started walking after tucking the knife into the waistband of his pants, and turned back to wave at Coran, but the man was already busy sorting through trinkets and humming to himself. Keith thought to himself that if everyone were as helpful as Coran, then finding Shiro would be a breeze. But not everyone is that nice, if anything he had heard about the false king was true. Determined, and now with a plan, Keith marched forward into the trees with more force in his step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK PSA: After this update, chapters will be coming out slower, due to the fact that I have school, and the only reason I got so many chapters out this week was because I was on spring break. So just because I don't update for a week does not mean I died. I am simply suffering through the tragedy that we call school. My plans are to update about every week or so. Anyways, have a lovely day everyone!


	5. In Which There Are Crazy Parents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith comes across an interesting house in the woods, and meets the person that Coran said could help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that chapters would be coming later but I just decided that while I'm still on spring break I can put out as many chapters as I want. So starting Monday is when the delay between chapters will come.

As Keith moved farther and farther into the forest, he started to doubt Coran’s directions. He had been walking for about a half hour if Keith’s estimation of time was correct, and had not seen any sort of structure resembling a house. He resolved to walk for ten more minutes until he gave up and headed back to Coran. Not a minute later, he heard the sounds of yelling and banging metal from up ahead.

He moved closer to the noise and as Keith rounded a bend in the road he saw… a house, if it could be called that. There was a cube shape that could be described as the bottom of the house, but the door was halfway up the wall, with a set of spiral stairs leading up to it. Perched atop of the cube were two towers of sorts, with turrets at the tops. The towers were made of disjointed pieces of stone and bricks, stacked on each other with no rhyme or reason. There was also a rickety drawbridge that connected the two turrets, and it swayed and creaked in the slight breeze.

Another bout of shouting brought Keith’s attention back to the front of the house. He tried to look in through the only window on the front of the house, but it was grimy and dark, so he could only see a flurry of movement inside. Steeling himself for what he might find inside, Keith carefully climbed up the stairs to the front door and knocked lightly. 

When doing so got no response, he knocked again with more force. Inside he heard the shouting stop and the unlatching of the door. Keith shuffled his feet, waiting for the door to open. When it finally did, he was met with an angry scowl and blue eyes.

“What do you want?” The scowl asked, sounding upset at being interrupted.

“Um,” Keith said, losing his train of thought for a moment. “I’m here because Coran said that I would meet someone who could help me?”

The boy scowled again and stated, “Not right now there isn’t. I’m in the middle of something and the only other people here are two old farts who can’t stop arGUING.” The last word was aimed over his shoulder towards the back of the house, where there had been silence up until this point.

“It’s not my fault!” Two voices echoed back in unison. The boy sighed and dragged his hand over his face and fixed Keith with a weary look. “I don’t suppose that you’re going to leave though, are you?”

“No. I came here for answers, and I intend to get them.”

“Fine, come inside. You can wait till I’m done dealing with those two for whatever you’re looking for.”

Keith was lead inside the strange house and told to sit down in a sort of parlor type place. He situated himself on a couch and watched as the other boy left the room. He could hear the shouting resume, but this time he could hear three distinct voices. It sounded like the two unfamiliar voices were talking about their son, and the boy was trying to calm them down. Keith tuned them out, figuring he didn’t need to be involved in their private conversation, and tried to assess the situation so far.

First, he evaluated the house. It was certainly an odd thing that did not look stable at all, but seemed functional. From the inside Keith could see several rooms farther back than the one he was sitting in and could also see the edges of two staircases on opposite ends of the house leading up to what Keith assumed were the towers he had seen from the outside. The house itself seemed to be very messy because there were things strewn everywhere, and no form of organization was apparent.

Next Keith decided to review what he knew about the boy who answered the door. He looked to be around Keith’s age, slightly taller than him with brown hair and tan skin. With a jolt Keith realized that this must be the Lance from Coran’s photo. He looked the same as he did in the photo, aside from looking a little more disheveled. Now all Keith had to do was figure out where the sense of familiarity was coming from and he would be golden.

Lance walked back into the room and gestured to Keith. “Follow me dude, you’re going to go sit out back for a minute while I try to get these two to go upstairs.”

He led Keith out of the back and left him standing there while he went back inside calling to the other inhabitants of the house. Keith watched through the door as Lance led an old woman to one side of the house, presumably up one of the staircases, and an old man to the other side of the house. The woman had silver white hair and a pointed face that glared at Keith through the door as she passed by. The man had slightly darker hair but ashier skin and needed the use of a cane to get over to the stairs.

Keith turned to survey the back of the house. It looked much like the front, except with more windows. He could also see that the turrets had little balconies that led out to the bridge that connected the two. Keith wondered why the two old people were arguing, and why they would have rooms connected to each other if they seemed so angry with each other.

He was so wrapped up in thought that he hadn’t noticed Lance come back out of the house. A hand clapped itself down on Keith’s shoulder and he jolted with a little squeak. 

“Jumpy, are we?” Lance chuckled from the doorway and beckoned for Keith to come back inside. “We have a lot we need to talk about.”

Keith walked inside and sat down on a couch opposite Lance. He didn’t really know where to start, so fortunately Lance started the conversation. “Ok, proper introductions need to be made, seeing as I don’t know your name, and you don’t know mine.”

“I know your name though! It’s Lance, right?” Keith backed off, suddenly realizing that he didn’t actually know if this guy’s name was Lance or if his assumption was wrong. The guy looked confused and replied, “Yes, but how do you know that?! I didn’t tell you.”

“Oh, uh, you were in a photo back at Coran’s place, and he told me a little about you…” Keith trailed off, unsure if he was making the right decision in telling Lance how he knew this. 

Lance sighed, “Coran did always like to tell other people about strangers they had never met before. You still haven’t told me your name though, and why you’re here exactly.”

“Keith. My name is Keith. I am here to rescue my brother, who I believe is imprisoned in Lotor’s prison,” Keith stated, saying what he had told Coran. He looked at Lance, who seemed to be contemplating something. “He said that you could help me, unless he meant the other two people in this house.”

Lance laughed a real laugh this time. “Those two? No, they’re just two parents who couldn’t manage their son and now each blames the other for it. I look after them from time to time just to make sure they don’t kill each other.”

“Are they… dangerous?” Keith asked, hoping the answer was no.

“No, a little crazy sometimes, but not dangerous.” Lance titled his head back and said, “I don’t know if I can help you, but I can take you to some people who can.”

“Okay,” Keith said, slightly suspicious that Coran would have sent him to someone who he thought could help, but then that person said he couldn’t? Keith wasn’t buying it, but he wasn’t going to question Lance just yet. He looked out the window and saw that it was getting dark. Suddenly he felt a deep weariness set in, and felt as though the events of the day were catching up to him all at once. He leaned against the back of the couch, making Lance sit up.

“Whoa, dude are you okay?” 

Keith waved off his concern and shut his eyes. “Yea, yea I’m fine, I just need to sle-” His sentence cut off abruptly as he slumped sideways, exhaustion taking over his body, sprawling further onto the couch. Through the haze of sleep that clouded his mind, he could hear a voice that sounded annoyed, and a warm weight that settled itself across his body. Keith curled up into the warmth and finally slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to see my little boy (here he comes)
> 
> LANCEEEE
> 
> Also a quick thank you note: Thank you guys for 100 hits I honestly never thought that this fic would reach this point since it's my first time writing for the fandom, but thank you!
> 
> If you want to talk to me, come visit my instagram or you can comment on the fic  
> insta: @thesunthemoonandstars


	6. In Which Lance Is Kind Of Annoyed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith wakes up, and him and Lance discuss what to do about Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii this chapter is slightly shorter than the rest because I was going to add more to it but then decided I would split it into two chapters. So chapter seven was originally going to be a part of chapter six, but now it's not.

Keith awoke slowly, shifting onto his back as the smell of something hit his nose. He inhaled deeply, and let out a big sigh. His parents must have made breakfast this morning, and it smelled good. He opened his eyes, blinking in the early morning light, and was met with a room that was most definitely not his. 

He pressed his hand to his forehead as he sat up on the couch. All the memories from the past day came rushing back to him: falling down into Wonderland, escaping the race, meeting Coran, and winding up here. A blanket slipped off of his shoulder that had not been there when Keith had collapsed the night before.

Before he could reason through where the blanket had come from, Lance walked through the doorway and leaned against the doorjamb. 

“I’m making breakfast if you want some.” The tone of Lance’s voice suggested that he was not in a great mood. 

Keith warily got up from the couch and wandered into the kitchen behind Lance. There still seemed to be stoves in Wonderland, and on the one Keith saw in the kitchen was a pot with something bubbling in it. Lance gestured for Keith to sit down at the small table occupying a corner of the room. 

As Lance turned back to the stove Keith decided to investigate as to why he was in a foul mood. “Hey uh, can I ask what you’re upset about? Is it something I did? To be honest last night is kind of fuzzy in my head so I’m not exactly sure what I might have done,” he ventured, hoping that was enough to get a reply out of the other boy.

At first there was no response, Lance simply grabbed two plates and shoved food onto them from the pan. Keith prodded at his with his finger until Lance gave him a utensil to eat it with. He had just put a piece in his mouth when Lance spoke.

“Yes. It was something you did. You fell asleep in the middle of our conversation! Literally in the middle of a sentence you fell asleep. I had to come over and make sure you weren’t going to fall off the couch. You should be glad that I gave you a blanket, otherwise you would have been cold all night,” Lance huffed, crossing his arms. There was a slight blush dusting his face at that last sentence, but that could be attributed to the steam rising from their breakfast.

Keith swallowed the food that was in his mouth, slightly burning his throat, and replied, “Hey, it’s not my fault-”

“HOW is it not your fault?! You’re the one who fell asleep!”

“If you let me explain, maybe I would tell you instead of you making assumptions.” Keith was starting to get annoyed by Lance’s attitude. It really wasn’t his fault that he was so tired. Why doesn’t Lance try getting dropped through a wormhole and getting stuck in an unfamiliar place? Maybe that would make him less cocky.

“As I was trying to say,” he said, shooting a glare at Lance, “This was not my idea of what I was going to do yesterday! I never planned to get stuck down here, even if it does mean I might find Shiro. I was dragged around Wonderland yesterday so what do you expect me to do when I finally get to stop and rest for a minute?” Keith’s voice had slowly been rising as he’d been talking, but it calmed down after he saw the look on Lance’s face.

He couldn’t place it, but it looked almost vulnerable. As if Lance understood what Keith was going through, even though he couldn’t possibly know. Keith sighed and stabbed his utensil into what was left of his breakfast. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m just a little on edge right now, and I really needed to sleep last night, although I didn’t plan to fall asleep mid-sentence. Can we get back to talking about how I might find Shiro?”

Lance still looked slightly peeved, but seemed to shake it off and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “Fine. As I was saying before, I don’t know that I can help you, but I can take you to someone who will have more information than me.”

“Her name is Allura, and she is going to know where possible prisoners of Lotor are better than anyone.” Lance looked at Keith for a moment before adding, “She will also know who could be a spy for the Galra, or a spy for our side, so maybe one of them will have more information on your brother.”

Keith felt a wave of relief wash over him at these words, and closed his eyes for a moment to collect his thoughts. 

“Thank you, Lance. I know we haven’t got off to the best start, but I really am grateful for your help. Anything that can lead me closer to finding Shiro is a step in the right direction.”

Lance pursed his lips and looked off to the side. “Yea, whatever. Let’s just get you to Allura and then she can deal with you.”

Although Keith didn’t like the faintly ominous tone of Lance’s statement, he was all too ready to get on the road that he didn’t pay it any attention. 

“When do we leave?” Keith asked with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said before, updates are expected to be around weekly, so give or take a few days. Please be patient as school is a thing that exists and is a thing I participate in. As always, feel free to come visit my instagram or leave a comment! Thank you all so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day/night/week!
> 
> Insta: @thesunthemoonandstars


	7. In Which Backstory Is Given (to a certain extent)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance journey through the forest and talk about some things... but not all things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helllooooo! I'm early! And with an almost 2,000 word chapter (I know that's not a lot for some people but it is for me right now!). Enjoy :)

Lance rolled his eyes and stood up from the kitchen table. “Let me go check on the old farts and grab some stuff and then we can leave.”

He left the room, and Keith got up and stretched. He still didn’t feel very rested, but it was better than nothing. He checked to make sure that the knife Coran had given him was still tucked into his pants and wandered back into the room where he had fallen asleep. Keith picked up the blanket that had slid to the floor and folded it, setting it neatly back on the couch when he was done. 

Even after talking with Lance for longer, Keith still didn’t know what to think of him. He was getting very conflicting messages from Lance’s actions and his words. For one, he obviously was a caring person, seeing as he had given Keith a blanket even after he had rudely fallen asleep on him. Lance had also made breakfast, and was looking after the crazy parents living in the house here, so that said something about his character. 

What Keith didn’t get was Lance’s snarky attitude towards Keith. He seemed to want to bicker, although that might not be the case all the time, considering the limited interactions they had had within the past day. Lance also didn’t completely trust Keith, judging by how he kept phrasing things, but that was understandable. 

Something had stuck in the back of his mind from when Coran had shown him the photo of Lance, and it slowly connected itself with when Keith heard Lance laugh. In Coran’s photo, the smile upon Lance’s face had seemed eerily familiar, though at the time Keith couldn’t place where he had seen it before. Combine that with the laugh Lance had given the day before and Keith had a puzzle that was clicking together. 

Lance was the one who had helped Keith when he had first gotten into Wonderland, and the one who had given him advice to find the “Mad Hatter” and her friends. Keith was willing to take a guess that Allura was this so called Mad Hatter figure, but was still confused. Why hadn’t Lance just taken him directly to her instead of disappearing, and why had he acted like he hadn’t known Keith when he entered the house.

Apparently Lance could also turn invisible, making sense of what Coran had said about Lance having other abilities besides floating. Keith heaved a sigh, deciding that he wouldn’t ask Lance about the whole helping him and then not remembering him ordeal unless it was absolutely necessary. 

As he finished this thought, Lance called to Keith from the front door that he was ready to go. Keith got up from the couch and walked over to where Lance was tying up the laces on some black boots that came up to right below his knees. 

Lance had changed his outfit when he had gone upstairs, putting on a long sleeved dark blue top tucked into a pair of brown trousers that disappeared into his boots. He fiddled with the boots a bit more, then straightened up and grabbed a cloak, fastening it around his shoulders.

Keith couldn’t help but stare a little bit because, well, Lance looked good. Like, really good. He shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that had formed there. What was he thinking? He couldn’t start admiring Lance, the guy was clearly mistrustful of him in the first place, and after this whole mess was over he would never see Lance again, so no. Those thoughts were crushed in Keith’s mind.

“Hello? Earth to Keith?” Lance said, waving a hand in front of Keith’s face, who was unaware that he had spaced off so much. 

“Sorry. What did you say?”

“I said that you are probably going to want a cloak because it’s going to get chilly if we are traveling overnight.” Lance enunciated every word a little more dramatically than was strictly necessary.

“Oh. Uh-” Keith glanced around, not knowing where to get a cloak.

“Here.” Lance shoved a brown one at him, who took it and tied it around his shoulders. Keith grabbed his knife and gestured out the door. “After you.”

\----

It seemed that they had been walking in awkward silence for hours (it was really about ten minutes) when Lance broke the silence.

“So why are you looking for your brother?” Lance asked inquisitively.

Keith took a moment to answer, gathering his thoughts. “He went missing about a month and a half ago at the end of May. At first my family wasn’t worried because sometimes we could go about a week without talking to him- he’s in college out of state- but after three days, we started getting calls. People who were friends with him would call us, asking if we knew where he was because he hadn’t shown up for a hangout and had been missing class.”

He paused, looking at Lance to see his reaction, but he was simply walking with an unreadable expression on his face. He took a breath and continued, “When the calls kept coming in, my parents decided to do something. We called Shiro’s cell phone and anyone who would have seen him recently, but he didn’t answer, and the other people we called didn’t have any answers. By then it was the beginning of June, and there was a police search for him.”

“They couldn’t find anything that could lead to him disappearing, no evidence of a struggle, no signs of him running away, no signs of suicide. Nothing.” At this Keith took a shaky breath in, “So they stopped looking for him. They didn’t know what to call it so they said that he ran away and got killed somewhere remote where the body couldn’t be found. This was at the end of June.”

“I know that what the police said is a bunch of bullshit because no one disappears without a trace. There has to be an explanation for where Shiro went and why, so I started looking for him myself. For the past three weeks I’ve been looking for clues as to what happened, but so far, nada. Until yesterday, when I fell through that wormhole into Wonderland. Now I’m here looking for him in a place far from anything I know, when I should just be at home enjoying my summer with my brother.”

He choked back a few tears after he got done telling his story, but quickly composed himself, not wanting to let Lance see him cry. He looked over at Lance, who was wearing a sad look on his face. Keith tried to smile, saying, “But hey, this is the closest I’ve gotten to finding him all summer, so I’m very thankful for that.”

Lance coughed, looking away and said, “Yea, I would be relieved about that too. Now you can ask me a question in return. It’s only fair.”

Thankfully, Keith didn’t have to think for long about what he wanted to ask Lance. “How do you have your powers? In Coran’s photo you were floating off of the ground and I want to know how you did that.”

The other boy chuckled and said, “Of course that’s what you would ask about.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Keith asked indignantly.

“Nothing man, nothing,” Lance replied, “Long story short, I fell into a well and got magic powers. End of story.” To prove his point, he turned his body away from Keith and walked faster.

Keith ran forward to catch up with him. “No no no! You absolutely cannot tell me only that much of the story. I gave you a lengthy explanation! I deserve something longer.”

“Fine. I’ll give you a slightly less abridged version of the story.” As Lance started talking, Keith noticed that his feet were hovering slightly above the ground, allowing him to move smoothly along the forest floor whilst Keith was working hard not to trip over roots that were protruding from the ground.

“Well, first of all, I was walking around Wonderland one day, as one does,” he said, “when I happened across a well in the middle of the forest. It was an unusual looking well because inside of it there was multicolored water instead of the regular clear water. So I was looking around it when by accident I fell in! I must have swallowed some of the weird water and passed out because next thing I know, I’m laying on Allura’s bed the next day with no memory of how I got there! Crazy right?”   
Lance shook his head as if he almost couldn’t believe that he had done those things, as if it were some crazy dream. He continued, “I was very confused, and became even more so when I started to levitate off the bed and then when I panicked I fell onto the ground. After a while I could control the powers, and so here we are.” He smiled brightly, as if he was telling a child’s tale. Keith could tell something was off about the intensity of his grin, it seemed too happy and carefree to be real.

In spite of this, Keith asked another question, wanting to know more about the situation. “Why were you walking around Wonderland and why were you in the middle of the forest?”

Lance didn’t answer, opting to look ahead into the forest, and then jumped up about two feet into the air, floating gently back to the ground. “Look! It’s Allura’s place, we’re almost there!”

They walked for just a few minutes more until coming upon an old house that looked almost like a castle, but scaled down to the size of a modest home. It was painted in shades of teal and white and four parts of the house were jutting out from each side of the house, and in the middle a tower rose up. The whole house was covered in ivy vines, which only added to the effect.

When they were about fifty feet away, Lance turned to Keith. “When we get in there, let me do the talking since they don’t know you, okay?”

“Ok.”

Lance gave Keith a quick once over, then nodded and floated the rest of the way up to the front door. He knocked, three quick raps, a pause, then two more quick raps. Keith assumed it was some sort of code, and waited behind Lance for the door to open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are some songs I listened to while writing this chapter, and while they DONT have anything to do with the content of the story, I thought you guys could use some quality music suggestions.
> 
> song one: "I Wanna Get Better"-Bleachers  
> song two: "Beloved"-Mumford & Sons  
> song three: "Spirits"-The Strumbellas
> 
> as always, feel free to come talk to me on insta or in the comments!   
> have a lovely night/day/week!
> 
> insta: @thesunthemoonandstars


	8. In Which Keith Meets The Mad Hatter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith meets two more people in his journey to find Shiro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having like an internal crisis about whether or not to post this much of the chapter because what will now be chapter 9 was going to be part of chapter 8. Then I decided that if I were going to write that much more of the fic it would take me kind of a long time and I don't have that at the moment. But I digress, so here's this.

The sound of several locks unlocking came from behind the door, and then the door swung open to reveal Allura. She looked slightly different from the photo in Coran’s place, though. Her white hair was a lot shorter than it was in the photo, falling slightly below her chin, and she was not wearing a top hat, instead sporting a pink beret. Keith was captivated by her eyes because he couldn’t seem to decide what color they were. They seemed to shift from a sea foam green to a darker blue when she moved her head. 

“Hello Lonce!” Allura cheerfully said. “Who’s this?”

“This is Keith. He is here in search of his brother, and I thought that you and Pidge might be able to help him.”

Allura turned to study Keith. He shrunk a little under her stare, intimidated by how intense she was. She scanned him up and down, her gaze lingering on the side of his waistband where Keith had stashed his knife.

“What do you have there, Keith?” she asked inquisitively. 

Keith brought the knife out and unwrapped it from its bindings. “It was a gift from Coran. He said I might need it later on.”

“Oh Coran…” Allura trailed off, tracing the design on the hilt, then looking up at Keith. “Do you know what this symbol means?”

He looked at her for a minute, then back at Lance, whose eyes had gotten bigger, showing that he clearly recognized whatever the symbol was. “No… Is it something bad?” he asked, hoping that it was nothing terrible.

“It’s the symbol of the Galra, Lotor’s army,” Allura said gently.

Keith nearly dropped the knife right then and there. “What?! They’re the ones who kidnapped my brother! Why would Coran give me a knife that ties me to them?”

Allura sighed, “I do not know, but I am sure that he had his reasons. I think that you should keep it regardless, it may come in handy.” She looked at Lance, and gave him a pointed look. “I think that we can confirm that Keith is no Galra soldier, Lonce.”

Lance huffed, mumbling, “Well you can never be too sure nowadays. Everyone’s a spy for someone else.”

He turned to Keith, who was now looking anywhere besides Lance. “Keith, I’m sorry I didn’t trust you, but in these days you can never be too sure about who to trust, so I had to make sure that you really were looking for your brother and not looking to rat us out or something.”

“Whatever.” Keith just wanted to continue his search, not deal with people who didn’t trust him. “Allura, do you think that you can help me?”

“I think that with a little bit of investigation, Pidge and I should be able to help you locate your brother. Come inside and we can chat more.” 

She opened the door and Keith walked into the foyer, surprised when Lance didn’t follow. He just stood there, watching Keith as he went into the house. 

“Are you coming in, Lonce? I know Pidge would love to see you,” Allura told him, but Lance just shook his head. 

“I need to get back to Haggar and Zarkon, they don’t do well all by themselves for very long, and there are a couple other people I need to go see, but I’ll be back in a couple days.”

Allura nodded. “All right, well, as always, be careful and give a holler if you need anything.”

Lance smiled and saluted as his body started to fade out, leaving his smile behind for a second before that winked out of sight too. Allura turned to Keith, who was staring at the spot where Lance had been with an awed expression on his face.

She laughed, a light airy sound, and shut the door. “Yes, Lonce can be quite captivating when he wants to be, can’t he?”

Keith just laughed, a tad nervously though. He hadn’t quite realized how intimidating Allura was up until now. It wasn’t that she was super tall, or buff or anything like that. It was the way she held herself, like she knew exactly what was going to happen and if it didn’t, then she would make it happen.

“All right Keith, let’s talk.”

\----

After being served a weird drink that sort of tasted like really watered down tea, Keith finally worked up the courage to tell Allura what his purpose was here. He started by telling her about Shiro, then about how he disappeared and that Keith had been looking for him ever since. How Wonderland was the first real clue as to where his brother might be, and that if she could help him at all, even the smallest amount that he would be forever grateful.

Once Keith had finished his story, Allura sat there tapping her fingers against the table and looked thoughtful. “I’m not sure that I have any information on your brother right now,” she said, noting how Keith sagged in his chair and held her finger up in the air. “But I think that Pidge and I might be able to do a little digging and can come up with something that can help you.”

She got up from the table and walked over to a set of stairs. “Pidge, come down here! There is someone here that needs our help,” she yelled up. 

A clattering of items moving around upstairs drew Keith’s attention to the small figure that came tromping down the stairs and came to a stop in front of the table. Pidge tilted her head and ran her eyes up and down Keith, making him feel as though he were being placed under an intensive body scan. She pushed her large circular glasses up her nose and wrinkled it. 

“This is who needs our help? He doesn’t look very ‘in need of help’ if I do say so myself.”

“Now Pidge,” Allura reprimanded, “this is Keith, he is looking for his brother, and I think we can help him.”

Pidge pursed her lips and walked over to Keith. “What can you tell me about your brother and where you think he might be?”

“Well,” he said slowly, caught in the intensity of her stare, “I believe that he was taken by the Galra, but I’m not exactly sure where.”

She rolled her eyes. “Basically everyone says the Galra took whoever went missing, but I can work with it. When did he go missing exactly?”

Keith swallowed, “About a month and a half ago.” He nervously turned his gaze from Pidge to Allura. “Do you think that you guys will actually be able to help me find him?”

“I do believe that it is a possibility,” Allura gently said, “but in the meantime, you must wait here while we see what information we can find. It is in your best interest to rest up while you can.”

Keith bit his lip, thinking about how much time he would be wasting if all he was doing was sitting here, and Pidge seemed to catch onto what he was thinking. 

“It’s really a good idea for you to wait here, so as soon as we have information we can notify you and then you can be on your way to finding your brother,” she told him. Keith sighed, knowing that she was probably right. “All right, but I’m not staying any longer than a week,” he said. “I have to make sure that I’m making the best use of time that I can.”

Allura and Pidge shared a smile as Pidge said, “We understand. We both know how important family is. Now, let’s start looking for your brother.”  
\----

They spent the rest of the afternoon up in Pidge’s room, which was more like a laboratory than a room. She had all types of gadgets that were built with tech Keith had never seen before. He found himself coming to like Allura and Pidge a lot more than his first impressions of them. Allura was very sure of herself, and was clearly a leader. Keith also noticed that she was kind, seeing this in how she made sure that Pidge was not overworking herself. 

Pidge was a different story entirely. She had more of a bite to her words, but was wicked smart. Keith found himself engaging in banter back and forth and laughing along with the two of them more than he had in the whole time that Shiro had been missing. Before he knew it, hours had flown by and he found himself yawning often and blinking his eyes in an effort to stay awake. 

He looked outside of the window and saw that it was completely dark out. He didn’t want to bother Allura, who was working on a string of evidence, but he was so tired. “Hey Allura, uh, do you happen to have a place where I can sleep? It’s getting kind of late and I think we’ve made enough progress to pick it up in the morning.” 

She looked outside and seemed startled that it had gotten so late without her noticing. “Of course! There is an extra room where you can stay while you are here. Follow me.” She gave Pidge a look and pointedly said, “Pidge, go to sleep. Even you need sleep.” 

Pidge sighed, but got up from her seat and wandered over to her bed, where she promptly collapsed onto it. Keith followed Allura out of the room and across the hallway to another room. He went in and sat on the bed. 

“If you need anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask me. My room is just down the hallway to your right.” With that, Allura shut the door and Keith was alone with his thoughts. He flopped back onto the bed and reviewed the events from the day. While they had made some progress, they still needed to get further in order to locate Shiro.

He threw his arm across his face. He still had so many questions about the Galra, about Wonderland, and also about Lance. He seemed to be hiding something, but Keith didn’t know what. It was too late for any more thinking about this. He would get some answers in the morning, when he talked to Allura. For now, he shut his eyes and drifted into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more song recommendations that no one asked for?
> 
> song one: "Cold Cold Cold"- Cage The Elephant  
> song two: "Whispers In The Dark"- Mumford and Sons  
> song three: "Lampshades On Fire"- Modest Mouse
> 
> it is storming heavily as I'm posting this and also like 12 am so that's fun
> 
> as always, feel free to talk to me on insta or in the comments!  
> have a lovely day/night/week!
> 
> insta: @thesunthemoonandstars


	9. In Which A Journey Begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allura shares Lotor's background.

After being roused by a loud noise coming from across the hall followed by a string of swearing, Keith got up out of bed and headed downstairs. As he passed the door to Pidge’s room, he hurried by it since there was smoke leaking from the cracks in the door and he didn’t want to deal with whatever was making the smoke first thing in the morning. 

He entered the kitchen to find Allura sitting at the table, reading something on an orange device in her hand. She looked up and greeted Keith with a warm smile. “I think that what we did last night has been steps in the right direction. We can get a lot more done today, but first I want to know if you have any questions. I know that you didn’t get the chance to yesterday.”

“Okay,” Keith said, “If you don’t mind, I want to know more about Lotor and his army? I really don’t have much context for them, and if I’m to face him in order to get my brother back, I need to know as much as I can.”

Allura nodded, and didn’t look surprised that that was the question Keith asked. “Alright. I will need to start from the beginning, so sit down.”

He sat, and Allura started her story.

“Lotor was not born into a high class family. His parents were not wealthy, so their family didn’t have the nicest things all of the time. Even though his parents tried to give him the best life that they could, Lotor always wanted more out of life. As he got older, he became more and more obsessed with power, and his parents lost control of him. He left home and this broke his parents’ hearts. They started fighting all the time, and became to old and weak to do more than that.”

“Lance takes care of them from time to time, checking in on them to make sure they haven’t killed each other yet. I believe that’s where you met Lance, correct?”

“Yes, but those are Lotor’s parents? They seemed… I don’t know, not capable of producing the person that you keep describing as a tyrant,” Keith puzzled, trying to fit the image of the old people as the parents of this crazy guy who took over the throne. It just didn’t click.

Allura laughed. “I know, they don’t look like much, but I swear it’s true. Anyways, after he left home, Lotor went in search of the place of the most power, and I guess at the time, that was me.”

“He came to me, and wove a wonderful web of his words that I was caught in. I couldn’t see the true intent behind what he was saying, I was too busy caught up in the feeling of being appreciated for something more than my crown. Or so I thought.” She shook her head, a sorrowful look falling across her face. “I was a fool for trusting him.”

“We started dating, and I finally thought that my life was perfect. I had the boy, the kingdom, and my friends. About a month or so after we started dating, my friends told me that they thought Lotor was no good for me. I paid them no attention, and kept it up for another few months. While I was oblivious to what what happening around me, Lotor was scheming behind my back, putting all the pieces of his plan together. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late.”

“Is that when you were kicked out of your house and sent here?” Keith interjected.

“Yes. I was sent here, and so was Pidge. Coran was not banished, but found it best to leave the palace anyways. One of my other friends, Hunk, decided to stay on as a cook at the palace so we could still have a link on the inside and get updates as to what is happening.”

“After I was sent here, Lotor began gathering his followers. At some point along his journey, we believe that he was touched by dark magic, making him even more power hungry than before. He started implementing strict rules and didn’t care for his people’s well-being at all. For the past two and a half years he has had control over Wonderland, and every day grows stronger. We have been trying to find a way to stop him, but with Pidge and I stuck here, Lance out helping people, and Hunk stuck at the palace, there isn’t much we can do at the moment,” she sighed.

Keith shifted in his chair. “I wish I could help you, and maybe if I can find my brother that can be a possibility, but my priority is finding him. I’m sorry,” he offered, hoping that Allura would be understanding and still willing to help him.

“It’s perfectly fine, Keith. I understand that you have a responsibility to your brother first, not to people you just met,” she said, right before a knock at the door sounded, the same one that Lance had given.

“I’ll be right back, so don’t go anywhere,” Allura said, “We still have a lot to talk about.”

She got up from the table to go answer the door. Keith waited, straining his ears to try and hear what was happening at the front door, but could only hear murmurs, then a door shutting. Allura walked into the kitchen, followed by a man in a yellow button down and green pants.

“Keith, this is Hunk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys sorry this chapter is so short but my mental health this past week hasn't been optimal so my motivation for writing this story went down a little.
> 
> song one: "Kill Your Heroes"-AWOLNATION  
> song two: "Carried Away"-Passion Pit  
> song three: "I'll Wait"-The Strumbellas
> 
> as always have a great night/day/week!  
> insta: @thesunthemoonandstars


	10. In Which Hunk Makes Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk introduces himself to Keith, and Keith asks Allura and Pidge a question

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi sorry y'all. I kind of disappeared for a while, and all I have to show for it is this lousy short chapter. Uh, I hope to keep updating, but it will probably be maybe once or twice a month, I'm not sure yet. Anyways, enjoy!

Hunk waved awkwardly at Keith. “Hi. I- Uh… I’m sorry I kind of got you into this mess. I feel really bad about it.”

Keith smiled at him, “Look. Honestly, it’s one of the better things that’s happened to me. If you didn’t know, I’m looking for my brother, and coming here has led me closer to finding him than anything else I’ve done so far.”

Hunk still looked awfully concerned as he said, “I would really like to make it up to you though.” He seemed pensive for a minute, then looked as though he had a light bulb switch on over his head. “Ah ha! I know! I’ll make you some reconciliation food.”

The other boy chuckled and shook his head. “All right, all right. If I’m not being too intrusive, can I ask as to why you’re here?”

Allura spoke up at that, “I invited him here because I think that he can help us in the investigation for your brother. Him and Pidge are both very good with technology so I was hoping that they could figure something out.”

A clattering noise came pounding down the stairs and Pidge rushed into the kitchen. “You guys might not want to go upstairs for about an hour, one of my experiments sort of… exploded.” 

She glanced around, seeming to notice that Hunk was there, and a smile overtook her face. Hunk smiled too, and the two embraced. 

“I didn’t know that you were coming!” Pidge exclaimed, “I would have prepared something fun for us to work on.” Her face turned into a pout and crossed her arms, turning to look at the other girl in the room. 

She held her hands up defensively. “Hey, you guys can just help KEITH right now, who we are supposed to be helping find his brother, and you can complain to me later.”

Pidge rolled her eyes. “Fine. Sorry Keith, we are very happy to help you.”

“Okay. How about I make some delicious food, then we can talk and we can discuss and do all the things that pertain to this mission,” Hunk suggested.

The rest of the group smiled at him, and he wandered over to the cupboards to rifle through their contents. After finding what he needed, he shooed them out of the kitchen and into the other room, saying that he needed space to cook. Allura and Pidge settled themselves in armchairs and Keith leaned awkwardly against the wall. 

“Well, while we are waiting, is there anything else that you would like to know, Keith?” Allura asked. “I know that you asked about Lotor earlier, but is there anything else?”

“Uh, yeah, actually,” he said, “I was wondering if you could tell me what the deal is with Lance? He seemed to be a completely different person to me than who you were describing he is.”

“I can tell you,” Pidge said. “It’s kind of a long story, so you might want to sit down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> song recommendations:  
> 2/14-the band CAMINO  
> get out-CHVRCHES  
> bruises-chairlift


End file.
